Canadian Trucking Alliance Wants to Put the Brakes on Speeding Trucks

(March 2, 2006) – Canada’s trucking companies are calling for the country’s provincial governments to put the brakes on speeding trucks. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a federation of the country’s provincial trucking associations representing more than 4,500 trucking companies, today announced its endorsement of a national policy calling upon all provincial governments to pass a law making it mandatory that the speed limiters on all trucks that operate into, out of and within their provinces be activated and that the maximum speed of trucks be set at no more than 105 km/h.

A speed limiter is a built-in microchip that allows a truck engine’s top speed to be preset. Virtually all trucks built in the last decade come equipped with this technology. The law would apply not only to all Canadian heavy trucks, but also to US trucks that come into Canada.

David Bradley, CEO of the alliance, says that while truck drivers are, as a group, the country’s safest drivers and the least likely to be excessively speeding: “We want to eliminate speeding altogether; the environmental and safety benefits are simply too significant to ignore.”

The benefits of slowing down trucks include:

Fuel savings of as much as 10,500 litres for the typical tractor-trailer, which translates into more than $8,000 per truck in savings per year.;

Reduced greenhouse gas emissions — as much as 350 kilotonnes of GHG emissions in total per year in Canada;

Less severe truck/car crashes; and

Improved lane discipline and less tailgating.

Safety and environmental groups which have come out publicly in support of the proposal include: the Canada Safety Council, Pollution Probe, the Traffic Injury Research Foundation, SmartRisk, the Lung Association, the Canadian Transportation Equipment Association, and the Insurance Bureau of Canada. The following are just a few comments from supporters in favour of the CTA proposal:

“We are convinced that mandating speed limiters, especially at this time, will be most successful – the end result being a reduction in the number of road collisions with an accompanying reduction in greenhouse gases.” — Canada Safety Council President Emile-J. Therien

“By developing and proposing a comprehensive policy on truck speed limitation and lane discipline, the Canadian Trucking Alliance is taking the lead in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants from commercial vehicles.” – Pollution Probe Air Programme Director and Senior Scientist Dr. Quentin Chiotti

“The (CTA) policy has been developed with due consideration to the research on the relationship between speed and crash risk as well as the relationship between differential speed and crash risk.” — Traffic Injury Research Foundation President and CEO Herb M. Simpson Ph.D.

For more information on the Canadian Trucking Alliance please visit www.cantruck.com